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It starts how most things start. Boredom. Well, boredom and longing. Sprinkle in a bit of chaotic personalities and there you'd have it. The Minyard-Josten Rivalry was born.
Honestly, someone should have seen this coming.
During Neil's fifth year at Palmetto and Andrew's first year in the pros, they mostly stayed off of social media - Andrew was only on it because his manager added it to his contract.
The press didn't ask any questions about Andrew for Neil to mouth off to. His only mentions were when reporters asked Neil how he was doing without them, if it felt like an entirely different team without the original foxes he started with, if he still kept in touch with anyone.
Of course they did. The day after the girls graduated a group chat was created - which Andrew immediately removed himself from and promptly re-added himself to, from Neil's phone, when he graduated.
It was too calm for Neil's final year at Palmetto, something had to break.
Turns out, the breaking point was another year away from each other. Andrews's team didn’t offer Neil a position and none of the teams that Neil was considering had an open goalie spot.
So another year it was. Another year of trying to match schedules, long distance calls, even longer drives, but this year Neil had a pro schedule in the same district as Andrew. Meaning it should be easier to see each other, but their time together would be shorter to accommodate the extra practices and PR gigs they had to do.
Naturally, the frustration built, the pining increased, the emptiness of not having the other there increased until it felt wrong. It had to break.
And it broke. Spectacularly.
***
The first game of the season, they were against each other. Andrew the starting goalkeeper for the Denver Falcons and Neil the first string sub for the Portland Eagles.
Their time together on court was limited by Neil's twenty-two and a half minutes and Andrew's forty-five.They would have to make due with before game warm ups, and during game snarky remarks before they were able to be free to spend the night together.
They hadn't seen each other for almost three months before this first game. Too busy with pre-season practices, and Neil trying to find his footing with his new teammates. That especially took a bit of time. Accepting someone like him would take time and he knew that.
The team was aware of Neil's background, and most were willing to overlook it because of his talent on court and his ‘winning’ personality. Some however, were a bit harder. Mostly Neil didn't care what people thought of him, but this was his team, people he would have to rely on and vice versa. For that reason alone, he needed them to at least trust that he had their back on court, even if they hated each other off it.
So after all this time trying to find a middle ground with his team and going long periods of time without Andrew as a sturdy foundation for him to lean his insecurities on, it was inevitable that Neil would waltz right up to Andrew during before game warm-ups.
He saw some of Andrew's team tense at his approach, not knowing how Andrew would react and were ready and willing to throw hands with Neil if it came down to it.
Only one person on the Falcons - sans their main coach and Andrews PR person - knew what was between Neil and Andrew, and that was the Falcons's captain. Andrew and Marcus had a weird friendship built on mutual respect. He'd only met Neil once, but it was enough to figure them out. Neil didn't see him, but he wasn't really looking anywhere but the goal.
"Minyard." Neil spoke as he approached.
Andrew already knew he was coming, having zeroed in on the man as soon as he stepped on court. He heaved his racket over the back of his shoulders, hands hanging loosely from the stick.
He gave Neil a bored look. "Josten."
"Are you going to play like you give a fuck tonight?"
"Are you even going to make it to the goal?" Andrew retorted. It was rare for him to give compliments to others on the team. This was as close as they were going to get.
For the first time, Neil felt the excited energy of playing a game against Andrew.
He smiled and felt wickedness and mischief pull at his lips. "That sounds like a challenge."
"Get the hell off my side of the court, beglets." Someone to Neil's left took a step towards him, probably to stop Neil from lashing out at what they assumed to be a Russian insult.
"Make me." Neil said. Andrew took the bait and a single step forward before two of the Falcons’s backliners stepped in assuming the worst and not so gently told Neil to back the fuck off.
Neil sent a two-finger salute to the goalie and walked back to his side of the court with the feeling of Andrew’s stare on his back.
The Eagles’s captain, Cameron, was watching the interaction from across the court. He spoke as Neil made his way back. "What was that about?"
"Just making sure he was going to put in some actual effort tonight." Neil said nonchalantly, waving a dismissal.
"Actual effort?" He laughed. "What all those videos we watched, he wasn't putting in actual effort?"
"No."
"You're kidding." The smile slid from his face. "You can't be serious."
"Andrew only plays more than the bare minimum if the foxes are on the court." Neil picked up a ball, ready to start taking practice shots from first and fourth. "You'll see."
"I'm not sure I want to."
Neil smiled at him with what he hoped was a reassuring one. "Don't worry, Cap. We've got this."
Cameron won the coin toss for the Eagles, claiming the first throw.
***
Neil could hear the muffled cheer of the crowd through the plexiglass walls as he took his spot on the half court line. He was close to the goal already, close to Andrew, but he wouldn't lose focus. He had new tricks to show off.
The referee blew his whistle. Neil heard the telltale sound of the ball hitting their goalie's racket, and Neil took off down the court. It didn't matter that it was slightly off course from Carlos Abarca, if the striker was worth his merit in the pro leagues, then he'd catch it.
Neil felt his backliner mark against him and pushed back to help clear the area for Abarca. The other striker made good use of the footwork they've been practicing for weeks and easily made it past the backliners that Andrew had semi-complimented earlier.
Abarca had an open shot for the one and a half seconds it took for his backliner mark to catch up, and he took it.
Andrew blocked it, firing the ball right back at Carlos. Luckily, he caught it again, but this time there wasn't enough time to do anything about it. The backliners pushed him back to the first and fourth line, where he cursed and rebounded the ball off the wall straight to Neil.
Neil's backliner, number 33: Katie Johnson, pulled a borderline illegal move and pushed him as soon as he was about to catch the ball, making his catch wobbly.
He took it in stride and almost over extended his arm to keep the ball in his net, but it was his. He could drop his mark and fire the quickest goal anyone has ever been able to take on Andrew.
Neil barely caught the rebound from his dealer, losing time from securing the ball, his mark was only two steps behind. It didn't matter though, Neil had his shot.
He fired at the goal, at the last second he changed his mind and position so the ball would land somewhere different then where he originally planned.
He spent months trying to perfect this feint. His teammates thought it was a waste of practice, but Neil did it on his down time so they couldn't really complain. They didn't see the need to pivot last second, they were focused more on precision than the goalie themselves.
But Neil spent four years playing with Andrew. He knew that Andrew read people and adjusted his blocks based on who was firing and what they were telling him in the moment. Changing last second, after Andrew had already started moving, would almost guarantee Neil a point.
This was the first time he was able to put it into action.
It missed.
Andrew blocked by the very tip of his racket, pushing the ball off its main trajectory course, barely outside the goal line.
Neil stood stock still for less than a second before taking off after the ball again. He would have to be faster.
He jogged back towards his team, wanting to be close enough if anyone could fire the ball back to the strikers. If he was lucky, he'd be able to intercept a pass, grab it, and go.
Neil had never been so lucky, why would he start now. He quickly found the ball, locating its position and who had it.
Tessa Reed - the starting striker for the Denver Falcons and Andrew's only friend on the team - had possession of the ball. Neil knew the only way it was coming out of her racket was if she rebounded it to herself or if she fired on goal. No one was going to take it from her.
Catalina Alvarez was Reed's mark, and she was doing a damn good job at it. She kept Tessa at bay and frequently checked her stick so Tessa couldn't let her guard down.
Neil had watched Alvarez's growth over the years since Kevin sent Jean to USC. When he learned that he'd be on a team with her, he was looking forward to seeing how much of that Trojan kindness was real and how far she was really capable of going.
Then he met her and her over the top personality. Jean said it was a small price to pay for her talent on the court.
Neil saw that now as Alvarez checked Reed and hit her racket at the same time, popping the ball out. She wasn't quick enough to grab it, but Neil was.
He quickly ran the short distance and scooped the ball from the ground, making a wide semicircle through the fray and back up the court, bouncing the ball off the wall every ten steps.
The Falcons backliners were waiting for him as he approached. Carlos tried his best to keep his mark at bay, but he slipped past him, running directly for Neil.
He could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He had all the time in the world. There was only one obstacle between him and the goal, and that was the goalie. These backliners meant nothing.
Neil waited until the two were close enough to crash into him before dropping to the ground and sliding through the open V between their legs. He seamlessly got to his feet and made for the goal.
This time, Neil would be even faster. He'd wait longer before changing the ball's trajectory.
He swung, he fired, he missed.
Andrew blocked again. This time with more confidence, sending the ball back up the court instead of just outside the goal line.
Faster.
The Falcons team had called a time out and Coach took the opportunity to switch out a few players.
Cool sweat dripped down his face as Neil stood waiting for Cameron to make his way onto the court floor. He was replacing Carlos Abarca for the rest of the half.
Instead of taking his spot at the first and fourth line with his backliner mark, Cameron walked the distance to stand in front of Neil. A wide grin on his face.
"You weren't kidding when you said he didn't try, were you?" He clapped Neil on the shoulder.
"Take your mark, Cap. I've got a goal to make." Neil said, staring Andrew down.
The goalie lifted one hand from his racket where it hung over his shoulders waiting for the game to resume and waved.
Neil flipped him off in return. “I thought you said I wouldn’t make it past your backliners.” He called out.
Andrew waved him off. “I told you you wouldn’t make it to the goal.” He spread his arms wide. “Seems as though I’m right again.”
“Fuck you. I’ll get it!” Neil called back, watching the amusement behind Andrew’s helmet.
Andrew didn’t respond with words, just his cocky two-finger salute. The one Neil borrowed at warm-ups. He saw a few people looking back and forth between the two with anticipation, wondering if a fight really was about to break out.
Cameron chuckled nervously. He forced a smile, reassuring everyone and turning it into a joke. "Alright. No actual fighting. You look like you're ready to start throwing punches."
"Take your mark, cap." Neil said.
Finally, Cameron did and the referee blew the whistle. Andrew shot the ball all the way down the court, and Neil ran for it.
There were no thoughts in Neil's brain, only the goal and the goalie.
He fired his feint.
Andrew shot it right back at him.
Neil dodged it, not caring who caught it. He walked up to Andrew, body tense in frustration aimed at himself.
Now it was personal. Every shot Neil threw, Andrew blocked. On any other night, Neil would be ecstatic to see this level of effort from the goalie, but Neil couldn't help but feel bitter.
He'd worked months - months - on perfecting the feint. He made up the footwork, the body motions, and the freaking angle of the racket by himself specifically so Andrew wouldn't know any of it. He shouldn’t be prepared for the move. But here he was, blocking it every time Neil shot.
Neil pointed his racket at him. "I will get this point." He growled.
"Not like that you won't." Andrew cocked his head to the side, and gave Neil a lingering once over. "I know the way your body moves too well."
Neil flushed with anger and arousal. He pushed the latter down for now and pulled on the anger, bringing him more motivation as he went for the ball again.
It was minutes later that Neil finally got the ball in his possession again.
Now, Andrew had gotten comfortable in Neil's growing frustration, ready for him to come take another shot on goal.
Neil cleared his mind, taking in a calming breath, the obvious answer coming to him just as his ten steps were up, and he was firing at the goal.
He didn't try his feint, he didn't try any desperate tricks, he just fired.
Andrew missed.
Neil grinned, throwing both arms in the air as a celebration as the goal lit up red. Cameron ran to Neil and bear-hugged him. Finally - finally - he'd gotten a point.
Neil learned that the only way to score on a goalie that knew him better than he knew himself was to be completely random with his shots.
He wouldn't decide to do his faint trick, his fancy footwork, or regular shots. He would have his muscles decide for him. Andrew couldn't predict what Neil didn't know until he threw the ball.
He scored two more times during his stint on the court before the offensive coach pulled him off.
Neil desperately wanted to be on the court. Now that he knew how to score on Andrew, he wanted to keep at it. Make the point gap bigger for the second half, but he was still a rookie in his team's eyes despite his college career. He was lucky to have twenty minutes on court as it was.
This game would prove that he had what it takes, they would see how good he is and put him on court for longer.
***
Neil had been neatly avoiding anything to do with the press since he started with the pro teams at Wymack's request. A request he was willing to enact. Neil didn’t care about the praxis and if it was up to him, he wouldn't have anything to do with them, but unfortunately it was a necessary evil that was written into his contract.
Fortunately for him, the Eagles did their press coverage randomly and Neil was able to take his name out of the hat without anyone knowing. Unfortunately for him, his captain noticed.
Cameron told him that they were on press duty after the game and Neil was furious about it. He hadn’t seen Andrew in months and now he had to waste even more time just so the reporters could ask questions that had nothing to do with exy.
Cameron must have seen the look on his face because he leaned over to Neil and muttered. “Don’t worry, this shouldn’t last long. Just a foxes reunion, a couple of questions, and we can get out of here.”
Neil turned towards him in confusion. “A ‘foxes reunion’?”
“Yeah, Coach thinks it’ll be a good press to get you and Andrew back together. You haven’t seen each other since he graduated, right?”
Neil stared at him in silence. More confused than anything. Cameron took pity on him and explained in full.
“When Kevin Day and Matthew Boyd signed to the same team, the press ate that up. Everytime someone gets the 2007 Foxes Team back together, there’s always a spike in exy because of-” he cut himself off. “-well, you know. And if I’m being frank, you and Andrew were always in the limelight at that time. This should make for good press to see you guys back together.”
“Right.” Neil said, hearing footsteps walking up behind him.
He turned around to see Andrew and Marcus approaching, Andrew’s face seemed bored, but Neil heard the silent ‘hello’ anyway.
“They’re hoping for a ‘fox reunion’.” Neil said, air quoting the phrase.
Andrew raised his eyebrow. “This is going to be anticlimactic."
“Oh good! Everyone’s here!” A woman yelled coming up to them, a camera man in tow.
The four of them turned to look at her and she grinned so wide that Neil could see almost all of her teeth.
“My name is Becky Sanson, and I’m a reporter from ESPN2.”
Cemeron and Marcus immediately responded with hellos and pleasant greetings of their own. Neil and Andrew were content with staying quiet.
Unfortunately for him, Becky didn’t let them stay quiet for long. “Neil Josten, first string sub striker for the Portland Eagles. You’re a few games into your season now. How are you enjoying the pros?”
Neil was sceptical of the exy related question, certain she was leading to something. They always were. “Fine.”
Her smile never dimmed as she waited for him to elaborate.
He didn’t.
She moved on. “Cameon Holmes, captain of the Portland Eagles, would you care to elaborate how your team has fared better or worse with the new addition of Neil Josten?’
“It’s been great, Ms. Sanson.” Cameron sent a glare covered by a smile towards Neil. “He pushes the team to work harder and has taught us a few tricks we’re excited to show off later in the year.”
“Yes. I saw a few new tricks out there today.” She turned towards Andrew now, addressing him. “Andrew Minyard, you were able to block three of Neil’s shots before he was able to score on you. I noticed the fancy footwork there. Good job, Neil.” She gave him a wink. “How were you able to block those shots?”
“With my racket.” Andrew said plainly.
Marcus laughed to cover the silence. “We knew Josten would have some new tricks to try and score on Minyard. We prepared for that.”
“You what?” Neil interjected.
Marcus shrugged. “Price of having someone who knows you playing for a different team.”
“Yes. They do know each other.” Becky pounced on the wording, taking full advantage. “You played on the same team for four years. How does it feel to see each other again?”
Neil knew she was waiting for ‘it’s great!’, and ‘we miss playing together’ type of answers, but Neil and Andrew answered at the same time with the same word.
“Fine.”
Becky’s smile twitched and her shoulders tensed in irritation as she had officially lost her patience with the two non-talkative players.
“Neil, you lived with Andrew for years before coming onto the pros. Many people have labeled him as dangerous and reckless. Do you believe that to be true?”
“Of course not.” Neil scoffed. “He’s only dangerous on court.”
Andrew stretched his neck in a move Neil knew to mean that he had strained something, the phantom pain of when he broke his collarbone his junior year of college coming back. He felt guilt pool in his stomach. It was probably him playing too hard to block Neil’s shots that made him pull something.
The guilt evaporated when Andrew took the bait from his last comment. “Get off the court and let me show you how dangerous I actually am”
Neil barked out a laugh. “Please, like you could hurt a single hair on my head.”
Andrew took a singular step forward. “Don’t push your luck, Josten.”
Neil matched him step for step.
“Or what?” He said, challenging him further on live television.
Andrew clenched his fist in restraint. Not anger - Neil knew - but something much heavier. Something only he saw. “I hate you.”
“What else is new?” He tilted his head cockily and that was apparently one step too far as Andrew made an about-face and stormed off effectively ending his participation in press duty for the day.
Neil wiped the smile from his face and went back to stand next to Cameron. He looked at Neil like he was looking at a stranger. Wisely, he let it go and allowed him to stay silent for the rest of the press stint. He was itching to leave.
Andrew was waiting for him at home.
***
His phone had been blowing up with notifications all day, and Neil could no longer ignore it. He opened one of his social media apps - determining it didn’t matter since they all had over twenty notifications each.
‘Andrew Minyard told Neil Josten “I hate you” after Josten taunted him into a fight. Is there - or has there always been - a Minyard-Josten Rivalry? A look into their past.’
Below was an eight page article with video clips of their press coverage over their years at Palmetto. The more Neil scrolled, the more clips and BuzzFeed articles he found. Even some on official sports channels.
Colin Strands, his PR agent, had texted him multiple times as well. He probably would have checked the social media notifications sooner if he’d known that Colin was texting him, but Neil had muted his text tone almost immediately.
Figuring this would just blow over, he didn’t even think to give a follow-up post or anything. It had been all day and Andrew hadn’t said anything either, so he must have also been thinking the same thing.
Until Coach pulled him aside at the next day's practice telling him that he needed to call Colin back, that he ‘wasn’t in middle school’ and ‘this wasn’t a game of telephone’.
By the time practice was over, Neil had forgotten and he blamed that entirely on Catalina Alvarez.
He was exhausted from practice and he’d forgotten his healthy snacks at home so he was also getting hungry. He pulled his duffle over his shoulder and dug into his pocket for his keys.
"Josten!"
Neil turned at the sound of his name. Catalina Alvarez was approaching him with a worried set to her shoulders.
Neil didn't really know the backliner yet. Everything he knew about her came from Jean and they didn't talk that much. He blindly reached for his phone in his duffle anticipating where this was going.
It wasn't a secret among the foxes that Andrew and Neil were together. It wasn't even a well kept secret for the public either. Most people just didn't get it. But with the news of this Minyard-Josten Rivalry going, he could assume that Alvarez would read between the lines.
What he put together from Jean was a basic outline for Catalina's character, and with that, he figured she'd probably be upset to find out about Andrew and Neil only now that Neil had joined her pro team, despite having been friends with Jean and Jeremy both of whom also knew.
His fingers grazed the soft metal and plastic of his phone, grounding him to this confrontation. Multiple people had turned to look at them, curious about the exchange.
If she was going to out him to this entire group, he'd be ready for it. Under no circumstances was he going to deny Andrew just to avoid a little homophobia. They deserved better than that.
Once she was within arms reach, Neil raised an eyebrow in question. She immediately started speaking a mile a minute.
"Have you heard from Jean? I haven't in a while and normally I wouldn't be worried but I know he had this meeting today that's very important and-"
"Stop." Neil said in Spanish, gambling on if she could speak it or not. She obviously didn't hear him, didn't understand, or didn't care because she kept going.
"-he was worried because his new contract is-"
Neil's hand raised before he knew it. He stepped closer and put his hand over her mouth, a breath away from actually touching her. "Alvarez. Stop. Talking." He said in as much of an authoritative voice he could muster with white panic dripping through his veins. She couldn’t mention it - him - out in the open like this.
Her eyes went wide and she closed her mouth for a few seconds, looking around the room at the few people who were watching intently. Neil glanced as well, seeing people in aborted movements to intervene.
Neil cleared his throat and took a step back, waiting for the tension in the room to dissipate. There were a few seconds of silence before she spoke again. This time, surprisingly and thankfully, in French. "You know?"
Neil did nothing to answer her question, instead he was more curious about the language. "French?"
"Spanish is too common. French is weird enough that most people won't get it. And this is too important to speak about in English. Also, fuck you, I knew Jean for four years, of course I was going to learn French."
"How did you know I did?" He asked.
"Sophmore year, you showed up speaking French and took Jean for the night. The next day someone ended up dead. Not really something you forget."
"You should know not to judge people about where they come from. Especially as Jean's best friend." Neil dismissed the slight. "French is common enough now that we're in the pros."
He nodded his head in the direction of the exit, hoping that she would get the hint to go somewhere private to talk.
Catalina turned and led him to the parking lot, approaching a silver toyota that Neil assumed to be hers. He pulled out a rare cigarette and lit it, taking one long drag from it, allowing the burn in his throat and the smell of the smoke to give him the strength for this conversation.
She wasn't a fox and she wasn't there for Neil's freshman year, but she was there for the aftermath of Jean. And she was still worried about Jean in a way that only a friend could be, so Neil resigned himself to the onslaught of questions that was inevitably coming.
"You're not smoking in my car." She said, crossing her arms, ready to put up a fight if Neil argued.
Technically Neil wasn't smoking, but he let that slide for the far better comeback of, "I'm not getting in your car."
"Yes you are."
"No. I'm really not."
"Right well, my best friend is not answering me, so you're going to explain a few things. Since we can't do that out in the open, get in the fucking car, Josten."
Neil dropped his duffle next to his feet and put his hand in his front jeans pocket, feeling his phone. He tilted his head curiously, "What exactly are you worried about?"
He meant 'why are you worried about Jean?' not 'why can't we talk out in the open parking lot?', but she seemed to think the latter of the two options.
"Because Moryiama could be fucking anywhere."
Neil closed his eyes, asking whatever God was listening for patience. His hand clenched and unclenched around his phone.
"Okay. First: mentioning names is a good way to get yourself killed. Second:-"
"That's why we should get in the car."
Neil pointed at her with his cigarette to quiet her. "Second: if he was spying on you, he's more likely to bug your car, not the entire parking lot. Third: Jean's fine. I'd know if he wasn't. Your worry is misplaced, it's more likely he just needs some time."
"He told me he'd let me know how it went. And excuse me but how the fuck would you know if it didn't go okay?"
"His meeting was at noon today in West Virgina. That's 9 here. It's currently 6 in the evening. I would have been notified if he terminated Jean from his contract."
She stared at him with a mixture of confusion, anger, and annoyance. ""Terminated from his contract?" She air quoted. "He's a person! A fucking human being! You can't just "terminate" someone from a "contract"! And why the fuck would he even deign to tell you about it!?"
Alvarez was pacing now, muttering to herself between sentences she threw at Neil. He took a mental step back. She was angry. Very angry. But not at him? At the situation in general? He knew she cared for Jean but this seemed to go further than that. She had morals that didn’t belong in this world.
He watched her until she calmed down enough to actually talk. She wasn't being loud per say, but he knew from life with the foxes that it was better to let her settle first.
She collapsed to the ground, legs thrown out in front of her as she dug through her bag again, making herself comfortable on the ground as she pulled out her phone.
Neil lowered himself to the ground as well, rubbing the cherry of his cigarette out until it was extinguished.
"God damn it." Alvarez muttered angrily. She shoved her phone back in her bag and looked at Neil expectantly. "My question still stands. Why would you know instead of the rest of us?"
Neil thought about it for a moment. How much of it he could or even should give away. Catalina Alvarez was nothing to him. Just someone he happens to know because of the other people in his life and the sport he plays. But something pulled at him. She wasn't afraid of him, just for her friend - for his friend. Jean was important to her and she was important to Jean and Jean was important to Neil.
"I'm the one who made the deal." Neil said, gauging her reaction. She didn't seem surprised, so he guessed she already knew that. "I would know because he had some kind of respect for my father. That's how I was able to make the deal in the first place. He'd call me out of respect for my father and for our arrangement to tell me he cut an end loose."
Neil cautiously put a hand on her shoulder in a comforting motion. "I would know if something happened."
"And do you?" She asked, eyes watering in frustration.
He pulled out his phone and called out. It picked up on the first ring. "Tell Jean to call Alvarez back. She's worried." Her head whipped up, and she stared intently at Neil's phone, no doubt trying to listen in. "Actually, better idea. Put him on." Neil rolled his eyes. "Now, Jeremy."
He was still talking when Neil handed the phone to Catalina. She immediately interrupted him. "Give him the fucking phone. I just want to make sure he's alright."
"Yes, yes. I know. I know that, but I'm still worried."
"Hey." She said softly. Neil assumed she was actually speaking to Jean and took a step back out of her space so she could have some privacy. "No, yeah I know. I was just worried. No one was picking up or telling me anything. I had to go to Neil. Right!"
Neil stopped listening and waited patiently for her conversation to end, listening for the goodbyes only.
When they were done, she handed him his phone back and picked herself up off the asphalt. "Thanks. How'd you know they'd answer you?"
"I don't normally call people and I definitely don't call Jeremy. I gambled on him being just as worried and would pick up the phone despite Jean's wishes." Neil shrugged. "It worked."
"Right. Well, thanks."
Neil nodded and picked his duffle back up, thinking the conversation was over.
"You realize this means we're friends now, right?"
She laughed at Neil's look of confusion and explained. "Now I know you're a big softy under all that ‘Son of The Butcher’ exterior."
Neil sighed exasperatedly, but was silently amused at her bluntness. She wasn't afraid of him, and wasn't afraid to say exactly what was on her mind.
Neil could respect that.
By the time he realized that he never messaged Colin back, it had been a few days and he hadn’t heard anything from Coach either.
Maybe this was the end of the Minyard-Josten Rivalry or maybe Colin also thought it would just blow over.
Oh, how wrong they were.
***
It had been almost two months since Neil and Andrew had seen each other. You’d think he’d be used to the long distance by now considering they spent Neil’s fifth year at Palmetto apart too, but no, it only made his long-distance pining ten times worse.
At least while Neil was still in college, there were scheduled breaks in Neil’s school schedule that they could take advantage of. But not that they were both playing professionally, their schedules never matched well enough. And there were no games that played close enough to each other to justify a drive.
Sure, they talked on the phone most nights and texted periodically throughout the day, but it wasn’t the same as just being in each other’s presence. Neil missed seeing him, feeling his warmth when they slept in the same bed, and the little quips of jokes he made under his breath.
The only thing stopping Neil from skipping his next practice before the weekend and just driving to Denver was that the Winter Banquet was coming up in two weeks. He could wait two weeks. The banter they had that fueled the Minyard-Josten Rivalry was truly the only thing keeping Neil afloat as well.
He went through practices with his single-minded devotion, not allowing himself to think along enough to remember he missed Andrew, but his presence on social media up-ticked exponentially the longer they were away from each other.
The winter banquet came soon enough and Neil was more than ready to hop on his flight to Denver where the Falcons would be hosting.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this excited for anything.” His captain said.
Neil cut a glance to him. “You haven’t known me that long.”
“Fair enough.” Cameron laughed. “What’s got you this excited anyway?”
Cat Alvarez came up from behind him, slinging an arm around his neck and draping herself off his shoulder. “Minyard probably.” She said, clapping Neil on the back. He shrugged her off and said nothing.
At the look Cameron gave her, she held her hands up defensively. “What, I’m just pointing out the obvious. The Falcons are hosting, Minyard and Neil have a very public feud, something is bound to happen.”
He turned his look from Cat to Neil and sent him a firm look. “Do not do anything stupid.”
Neil raised a brow and gave his captain a two-finger salute before walking off. He didn’t need or want this conversation.
He didn’t care what his teammates thought was going to happen, and Cat needed to learn when to just stay out of it. According to Jean, he was still fighting that fight, so Neil wasn’t holding his breath that she’d ever learn. She reminded him a lot of Allison in that way.
“I mean it, Josten!” Cameron yelled.
Neil sat in the window, watching as planes got ready for take-off or found their terminals after landing. His heart gave a little jump every time he saw a Frontier plane, wanting desperately for it to be their plane.
‘Boarding now. See you in a few hours.’ Neil shot a text to Andrew as the flight attendant called for their flight.
The rest of the team would be headed to the hotel first to check in and change, but Neil had already got permission from Coach to stay with Andrew for the weekend.
Permission might be a bit of a stretch. Coach knew about his and Andrew’s relationship, and probably also knew that even if he said no, that Neil would go to Andrew’s anyway. It worked out better for everyone when Coach played along like he had some kind of control over Neil.
Andrew’s reply came just as Neil was about to turn his phone onto airplane mode. A simple: ‘I’ll be there.’
Once the plane landed, Neil sent Andrew a quick text, letting him know. He stretched his stiff muscles as best as he could in the limited space. Everyone filed off the plane and Neil immediately separated himself from the group heading for baggage claim where Andrew would be waiting.
“Two hours, Josten. We’re entering as a team.” Coach yelled after him.
Neil gave a quick glance back, giving the man a nod and a ‘yes coach’ before continuing on his way. He could hear questions from some of his teammates, not knowing - or caring - if they were directed to him or his coach. He had somewhere to be.
The Maserati was easy to spot in the line of cars outside. Neil slid into the passenger seat, and they were off without a word.
They sat in comfortable silence on the way to Andrew’s apartment. Neil was busy relishing in Andrew’s presence, studying his profile, the way his hand curved around the steering wheel, and how the other one had its fingers intertwined with Neil’s resting on Neil’s thigh.
“Have you eaten yet?” Andrew asked, breaking the silence, casting a glance Neil’s way.
“I had a shake this morning. They’re feeding us at the banquet.” He responded.
“You won’t like it.” Andrew said, turning the car down a road that was not in the same direction as the apartment. “They’re making briam for the main course.”
“I don’t know what that is, but okay.”
They fell back into a soft silence for a few more minutes before Andrew brought them to a small Thai restaurant. It was in between the lunch and dinner rush, so not a lot of people were there.
A man greeted them as they walked through the door, doing a very subtle double-take. If Andrew noticed, he didn’t say anything. They sat themselves at a booth and waited for a server to come by.
Thai had quickly become one of Neil’s favorites and he was surprised Andrew took him to one, considering the man didn’t really like Thai food himself.
Neil rambled throughout their meal. He watched the tension bleed from Andrew’s frame as he talked. After a couple of minutes, Andrew provided his own commentary when he felt the need to.
Neil felt a sense of peace in the domesticity of it all. Telling Andrew about his team, his small and lonely apartment in Portland, the runs he normally takes in the morning, and the stray dog that sometimes runs with him.
It was good to have this time before the banquet. Time for them to process being vulnerable with each other as they resituated themselves back at each other’s side. They both kept up a shield around other people, but they allowed that shield to come down when they were with each other. But that was easier said than done, sometimes it took time and they respected that.
Neil’s rambling continued until they walked into Andrew’s apartment. He placed his duffle next to Andrew’s bed and went to go find the man in question.
Neil found him making coffee in the kitchen. He leaned against the doorway and waited patiently for him to finish before speaking. “Settled enough or do you need me to continue talking?”
Andrew glanced at him. “If you continue talking about exy, I’ll stab you.” He finished pouring an obscene amount of creamer into his travel mug before picking both up and walking to hand Neil his. “Rule for the weekend. No exy when we’re not at the banquet.”
Neil grinned into his mug, taking a sip. “Fine, but I can’t stop Kevin when he inevitably makes his way over.”
Andrew gave him a flat look. “Leave The Queen to me.”
“I always do.” He teased.
Andrew rolled his eyes, not taking the bait. “Except when you don’t.”
Neil chuckled and took a sip of his coffee. “Yeah, but what’s a little fun here and there.”
“He’s annoying when you provoke him.”
“Would you rather I provoke you?”
Andrew’s eyes snapped up from watching Neil drink his coffee to the ice blue eyes with playfulness in them. Neil watched as Andrew’s own eyes grew darker with heat. “Yes or no?”
“Yes, but we have to leave in 20.” Neil said, sagging a bit on the doorframe. “Coach wants to walk in as a team. Wait, aren’t you supposed to be there? The Falcons are hosting this year.”
“I said no exy.” He pushed Neil back solidly into the doorframe, hand hovering next to Neil’s coffee so he didn’t drop it and kissed him.
***
Neil still wasn't sure what Andrew did to get out of having to be there to greet all the incoming teams, but he'd have to find out if the same thing worked for his own coach.
"Josten!" Alvarez yelled, waving a hand and beckoning him over.
Cameron turned at Neil’s name, an unfamiliar look on his face. "Where the hell have you been?"
"Coach knows where I was." Neil responded.
"That is so not the point." He shook his head. "We're supposed to walk in together."
"And here we all are." Neil gestured to everyone. "Together." He heard a few scattered laughs from his teammates.
Coach Sanderson - the Eagles’s offense coach - spoke up before Cameron had a chance to say anything else. She went through the weekend's schedule - like they hadn't heard it before - and threatened everyone who might make a scene or get up to something unsavory. They had a "responsibility to uphold the team's image" or whatever that meant.
After a chorus of 'yes coach' from all twenty-three members, she ordered everyone into a line based on positions - captain and vice-captain the only ones to be out of order.
As they walked out onto the court, someone from the Falcons's staff announced their team and ranking before showing them to their seats.
They didn't have to sit there of course, this whole banquet was about letting players get to know one another. Usually that came after the dinner portion of the night.
Neil searched the tables until he found the Falcons, finding their starting goalie was even easier as the man was already looking his way.
He quickly signed to him, letting him know that Neil was sticking with his team until the other teams made it to the banquet.
They had learned British Sign Language when Stuart started losing his hearing. One too many gunshots close to the ear will eventually take its toll. It also helped that no one in America really knew British Sign Language.
Andrew nodded his understanding but didn't move beyond that. Taking Andrew's acceptance for what it was, Neil turned back to scouting the tables for familiar faces.
He saw Kevin a few tables over with the Helena Healers, talking animatedly about something Neil assumed was historical. Kevin never got animated with exy. A few seats down from that he saw Matt. They were on the same team currently, Matt was transferred over at the end of last year.
Matt noticed the attention first and waved to Neil, grabbing Kevin’s attention as well. The fellow striker smiled first before realizing who Matt was waving to, then promptly turned his smile into an all too familiar glare.
Neil waved back to Matt and pointedly ignored Kevin.
Why Kevin would be glaring at him right now, Neil had no idea but he's sure that he'll find out later whether he wanted to or not.
He saw Alvarez walking back from the Seattle Seahawks’s table where Neil knew Jean and Jeremy were. She gestured to their own table. Neil rolled his eyes, but sat obediently at the table with his group until the last team arrived. They had approximately half an hour of mingle time before dinner was served.
As soon as the last team arrived, and they were clear to mingle, the Fox Alumni and their former Trojan friends stood as one - all knowing exactly what to do though it was never talked about.
Cameron grabbed Neil’s arm. "Where are you going?"
He tore his arm out of Cameron’s grip and stepped out of reach. "To mingle, Cap."
"Bullshit."
“You’ll get wrinkles if you worry too much, Cap.” Alvarez said, laughter in her voice. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t start swinging on Minyard, promise.”
“It’s not Neil I’m worried about throwing punches.”
Neil rolled his eyes and muttered to himself. “It's not his punches you need to worry about.”
Evidently he wasn’t quiet enough because Cameron turned another glare at him. “No it’s you running your damn mouth.”
Neil’s fist curled in on itself.
“You should have more faith in your team, Captain Holmes.” Cat cut in with a serious tone Neil had never heard from her before. “See you for dinner.”
She tugged Neil’s arm, turning him with her away from the Eagles’s assigned table.
There were two empty tables that were there in case of overflow due to the athletes' dates. Luckily for the Foxes, no one really joined the banquets as dates after they went Pro.
Andrew and Neil sat next to each other, back to the wall. Kevin and Matt took the seats directly across from them. Jeremy and Jean joined their little makeshift group. Jean sat to Kevin's left and Jeremy next to Jean. Cat next to Neil and across from her former teammates.
Neil looked around for their missing Fox and saw her approaching with a wide grin.
"Sorry, the other coaches asked me to make sure you two don't fight." She wiggled her fingers at Andrew and Neil.
Neil rolled his eyes for what felt like the millionth time tonight, but still stood to give her a quick hug. His hug with Dan was a different thing altogether. She never forced one on him, and never asked why if he didn't want to hug her. He tried to reward her every once in a while for the behavior, by initiating them when he wanted to.
Once Neil sat back down, she leaned across the table to kiss Matt on the cheek and took a seat next to Andrew. "Don't worry though, I told them that I could handle it."
"Like anyone can 'handle' those two." Jean said using air quotes.
Dan shot him a wicked grin. "I did for three years. I'm sure I can again for a couple of days."
"That has yet to be seen."
Kevin took the lull in the end of the interaction to insert himself into the conversation. "Speaking of, when are you two going to clear the air?"
Neil sent Andrew a glance. Andrew had the same bored stare as always, showing he truly didn't care what Neil said right then. "What do you mean?"
"I mean this whole Minyard-Josten Rivalry thing. It's not true, set them straight."
"Pretty sure that's the opposite of what they are." Jeremy muttered to Jean slightly too loud. Luckily for him, Kevin was still his biggest fan even though Jeremy wasn't on the Trojans anymore.
"You know what I mean. They're quoting Andrew saying he hates you."
"He does." Neil said at the same time as Andrew said, "I do."
Kevin sighed and buried his face in his hands. "Dan, help me talk some sense into them."
"Sorry man. No can do." Dan held up her hands in a surrender gesture. "Personally I'm enjoying the rivalry."
Kevin looked at her incredulously. “You're a coach."
"And you couldn't imagine the amount of money I could make if I was allowed into the betting pool." She shrugged at Kevin's paling face. "But I played with them and 'would have an unfair advantage'".
Kevin scowled and whipped his head around to Jean, speaking in rapid French about how ridiculous it was that coaches were betting on the Minyard-Josten Rivalry. Jeremy sometimes cut in with his own commentary, but Neil and Andrew were content to stay out of it.
Too soon they were called back to their team tables. They all reluctantly went.
Neil sat back down in his assigned chair, Cat next to him, and waited for the onslaught of questions regarding what he might have said to Andrew or why he sat next to him, but nothing came.
The anticipation was a nagging feeling in his gut, but no one mentioned the little Fox and Trojan gathering that happened.
Andrew was right about him not liking the meal the Falcons chose for the night. Apparently they wanted to only make one meal instead of a vegetarian one and a meat one, so they just cut the choice out for everyone.
Neil scraped most of the vegetables off and ate a few bites of the pasta, making it look like he'd eaten more than he actually had.
He pushed his plate away.
Unfortunately for him, Cat noticed and leaned over to mutter some numbers at him.
“What?” He asked clarifying.
She eyed him questioningly before explaining. “When Jean first moved in with us, he wouldn’t eat most things either courtesy of the worst fucking birds. We got him on a macronutrient diet to help transition him over. Are you like that as well?”
Neil stared at her, studying the easy way she was offering to help him with issues, not that he had this specific one, but her character changed a bit in his head. Sending Jean to the Trojans was a good idea, he knew that. Having one on his new line-up was concerning because he assumed their personalities would clash with his, but Alvarez was… not what he expected. Despite having some kind of truce relationship with her based in the mutual understanding from their fucked up lives and complicated backstories, her kindness still took him a bit by surprise every now and then.
He decided on a bit of honesty instead of evasion. “No. I wasn’t a Raven and was only there for two weeks. They couldn’t change me, though they tried.” He grimaced at the memories that made their way to the forefront of his mind. “I don’t like vegetables.”
Cat nodded and picked up some of the fruit that scattered their table, pushing the bowl closer to him. “We’ll get you something more filling after.”
He shook his head. “I’m fine.”
“I’ve been told not to trust that word from you.”
Neil shot a glance behind him to Kevin’s table then at the Seahawks’s table where the most likely culprits were. “We went to Thai before coming here.”
“Ahh. Well, he would know what they were serving.” She grinned at him mischievously.
Dinner was mostly a quiet affair after that as everyone was too busy eating than talking. Once the servers came out and took everyone's plates away, the athletes made quick work of dismantling most of the tables and setting up some activities on the court.
Neil made a face as they set up rubber baseball plates for a game of kickball. A quick look towards the Helena Healers’ table showed Neil that Kevin felt the same way as he did about the court being used for something other than Exy. Even after five years and eleven banquets - including the one last fall - Neil still wasn't used to it.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Neil's attention was drawn away from the defacing of the court by the sound of one of his teammate's voices. Just the right amount of anger to make Neil care about who was approaching. He tensed slightly before turning around.
It wasn't a secret that some players had a problem with Neil. His attitude, his relationship with Kevin, his direct involvement with Riko's death and subsequently the fall of the Nest, and the fact that he was a gangster's son really put people on edge around him. That's why he was working so hard to find a middle ground with his current team members.
Andrew had stopped just outside of the semi circle the Eagles made, eyes boring into Neil. What his teammates probably recognized as anger and hostility, Neil saw as longing and the unmistakable plea of 'be by my side'.
He smiled slightly and started towards the blond. Carlos Abarca, a first string sub like Neil, held out his arm stopping Neil from getting too close to the goalie. "No. Absolutely not."
Andrew's eyes darted down to Carlos's arm and Neil quietly spoke Russian. "He doesn't know what you're here for."
"He will learn quickly." Andrew replied in the same language. His voice was gravelly with anger.
"Oh yeah." Carlos interrupted. "I also speak Russian."
Neil smothered a smile before it could form and directed his attention to Carlos. "Duly noted. What have you heard before today?"
He dropped his arm back down to his side. "Bits and pieces. Enough to know not to let you two within ten feet of each other."
"So nothing." Andrew said.
Their language had drawn a bit of attention for Neil's surrounding teammates and a few others scattered around.
"Fuck you." Carlos spat. "I've heard you guys speak. I know how much you hate each other."
Neil tilted his head toward Andrew, a silent question. After a moment of silent consideration Andrew gestured non-committedly. Neil took the gesture as whatever he wanted, knowing Andrew didn't care.
He let the small smile crawl across his face, never really sitting right. "You need to pay better attention if you think I hate my husband."
Carlos's eyes widened and he took a step back in shock before quickly getting himself under control. The crowd around them was subtly getting larger.
"Husband?" He all but whispered.
"Maybe he doesn't know Russian." Andrew narrowed his eyes at the shocked striker, before deciding he didn't care anymore. "We're going."
Neil watched Andrew make his way from the growing crowd towards where the Foxes had settled again.
"You can't be serious." Carlos said, drawing Neil's attention back to the matter at hand. "He hates you, he's said so a million different times."
Neil scowled. "Listen to me very carefully Carlos. Words mean very little to me, understand? It's not what he says, it's what he does."
"Does he abuse you?" He blurted. "I can help. I can get you out of the marriage, and anything he has over you."
Neil's hands tightened into fists and he forcefully swallowed his anger. "The FBI couldn't force us apart, and you think you can?" He stared into Carlos's eyes, willing him to back down from this nonexistent fight. "I know you don't need reminded of this, Abarca, but I am fully capable of taking care of myself. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go spend what little time I have here this weekend with my family."
Neil left Carlos with the rest of his team and joined his pseudo family, quietly seething.
The foxes must have picked up on the mood change because no one mentioned it aside from Cat's not so silent muttering that she was going to make practice a bitch for Carlos in the near future.
They talked about their lives, catching everyone up. Neil thought it was kind of redundant since they all talked to each other throughout the year anyway, but he liked listening to them in person. It made him feel more included than just a number on a phone screen.
The first day of the banquet came to an anticlimactic ending. Some of the players were continuing the party at a nearby club Neil had never heard of, but most were going back to their hotel to sleep off the long day.
Carlos decided to make his reappearance just as Neil was getting his stuff together. Neil cast him a glance as he approached but offered no other greeting.
"I'm sorry." He said, placing himself directly in front of Neil. "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. Cat chewed my ass out for that. I'll be better in the future."
Neil nodded. It wasn't that he didn't believe that Carlos meant it, it was just that a lot of people say a lot of things. Words meant nothing to him, actions did. If Carlos was serious, he'd prove it. If not, well Neil didn't care about that either. So long as he kept Andrew's name out of his mouth, there would be no problems between the two.
The other striker held out his hand in offering. "Good?"
Neil stared him down until he awkwardly lowered his arm. "Yeah we're good. Now, if you'll excuse me."
He neatly sidestepped him and walked out the stadium doors, shooting a text to his coach that he'd be back in time for tomorrow's second day banquet ceremony.
***
Andrew was waiting for him on the trunk of the Maserati, an unlit cigarette flipping through his fingers.
"Are we waiting on something?" Neil asked as he came into earshot.
Andrew flicked him a bored look. "You tell me."
There was only one thing he could mean by that. Carlos. Neil thought about it, measuring possibilities, probabilities, and scenarios in his head. Most came back favorably.
"Not yet. We’ll see how everything starts to play out first."
Andrew nodded once and tucked the cigarette back into the empty box. He hopped off the trunk, and they were off as soon as Neil's door was closed.
Andrew clicked his tongue as they pulled into the parking lot for Andrew’s apartment. Neil scanned the lot for threats - old habits dying hard. A white SUV Neil recognized as Kevin’s rental car caught his attention. He said as much to Andrew.
"You should have known we wouldn't have gotten off this easy." Neil said knowingly.
Kevin waited just outside the door, sitting on the curb messing with his phone, a far cry from how paranoid he used to be about being alone or worse, out in the open alone. Maybe old dogs do learn new tricks.
Andrew slid the key in and the three of them entered the apartment. Neil started silently counting the seconds.
Kevin interrupted him at 37. "Think anyone saw you outside together?"
Neil tilted his head, decided against it, and continued counting, quickly adding the two seconds it took Kevin to speak.
He flopped down on the couch as Andrew and Kevin grabbed drinks.
"I'm serious, this rivalry is getting out of hand." Kevin threw over his shoulder as he riffled through Andrew's cabinets, pulling out two cups.
49.
"49 seconds, you win." Neil said to Andrew. "One day I'll learn not to bet against you."
Andrew slid the protein powder down the counter towards Kevin, not looking in his direction but addressing Neil instead. "Or you will use those critical thinking skills everyone says you have."
"This is serious." Kevin said with force. But it was hard to seem intimidating when you were aggressively pointing a scoop of powder at someone.
Neil rolled his eyes. "What's the big deal, Kev? We're not hurting anyone. Just a bit of fun."
"A bit of fun that can get you killed."
"How?" Neil wondered how the glass didn't break with Kevin's aggressive stirring techniques.
"Teams won't have you on if you publicly hate someone on the team."
"Or - and hear me out, I know this is hard for you to understand - they'll want me on their team because I'm talented. Our "feud" won't mean anything to coaches that are actually worth their title." Andrew handed Neil his own drink and sat next to him as Kevin took the chair to the side. "Everyone that needs to know, does. It's that simple."
"We're done talking about exy." Andrew said before Kevin had time to reply.
"Technically, I didn't break my promise. We were talking about us, not exy."
"Pushing it, Josten."
Kevin rolled his eyes at them but didn't say anything. Choosing instead to get comfortable in the chair and watch whatever ancient history documentary Andrew put on.
Neil wasn't really paying attention but he knew the other two were. It was the one thing they actually had in common. Mostly.
While Kevin would devour any and all history, finding every piece, every person fascinating in their own right, Andrew leaned more towards Ancient History. Once they started to add month dates into the mix, he tended to lose interest.
Somewhere in the year before Neil got there, they had figured out this common interest and it was the catalyst that kept them together when Andrew's patience ran thin and Kevin hadn't learned a tolerance for Andrew's antics yet.
"Are you staying or going?" Neil asked between yawns.
Kevin glanced between him and the goalie gauging if either of them actually cared. "Staying."
Neil nodded and pointed to a door in the hallway where extra blankets and pillows were before walking into Andrew's room and going about his nighttime routine while the others finished out the Aztec episode.
Andrew came into the room just as Neil was dozing off. He moved closer to the edge of the bed so he could have the wall.
"What do you think?" Andrew's voice came as a whisper and Neil fought to stay awake.
"Of?"
"Denver." He turns his head towards Neil, stretching out an arm in invitation.
Neil hummed, thinking on his answer as he scooted closer to Andrew, laying his head on his chest and hearing the heartbeat below.
"I don't really have an opinion of Denver. I just like being where you are." He whispered. "Sometimes I wish I could just move out here with you just so we can have this."
"This?"
"Driving to practice together everyday, sleeping in the same bed, making breakfast together in the mornings - me trying to sneak some fruit on your waffles before you drown them in chocolate syrup."
Neil could feel the vibrations of Andrew's hum on his cheek. "Why are you asking if I like Denver?"
"Because I know you don't like Oregon." Andrew tapped his finger on Neil's shoulder. A signal Neil knew to mean that Andrew was thinking something he wasn't saying.
"What makes you think I don't like Oregon?" He prompted.
"Besides the fact that you are less than three hours away from where your father essentially killed your mother, on a coastal region. Practically on a beach –"
"Okay, point made." Neil interrupted before he could say any of the things Neil’s been trying to avoid for the past six months. "But I can't just move out here. I have to continue to play exy."
Silence stretched across the room and Andrew had stopped his fidgeting, trying too hard to be calm.
A secret.
Neil lifted up onto an elbow, finding and holding Andrew's eyes. "Andrew, is there potentially a spot opening?"
He looked away. "Maybe, nothing is official."
"And yet I know your favorite pastime is eavesdropping." He said, a small smile forming on his face. "What do you know?"
"Nothing."
Neil took the lie at face value. If he didn't know anything. It could just be speculation or observation. Even after all these years Andrew only paid attention to threats and family.
Family wasn't an option since he didn't have anyone he considered family on the team, but Neil hadn't heard anything about threats either. For a second Ichiro crossed his mind, but he quickly dismissed it knowing Ichiro would take his grievances right to the source.
That left only one option. People who considered Andrew family. And that only left Tessa Reed, starting striker for the Denver Falcons.
She visited one of the same nightclubs Andrew frequented, and one night some guys thought they could touch her after she explicitly said no. Andrew stepped in and they've been friends ever since.
Well, she considers Andrew a friend. Neil would liken her relationship to Andrew the same way Matt and Andrew were friends. Forced Proximity.
She'd gotten too drunk one night and called Andrew to come pick her up and proceeded to pass out before she could give him her address, so he brought her to his apartment instead.
The next morning she had plenty of questions about why Neil Josten was in more than a few pictures on his wall. And was equally confused when Neil wandered into the kitchen to make coffee like he lived there.
"What's wrong with Tessa?"
Andrew shot him a look, equally impressed and exasperated by his cleverness.
"Reed might be pregnant. She'd quit exy to have the baby and open the striker position. It mostly boils down to if she keeps it." He tone indicated this was not his secret to tell.
"You know she will. She loves kids."
He remembered a PR clip her and Andrew were forced to do a few months back where the interviewer asked if she wanted a family. Despite being professional and serious about her career, Neil could tell she had always wanted a family and would eventually have one. He just didn't think it would be quite this soon.
"I can tell her you're interested if she quits." Andrew suggested, giving away his want for Neil to join his team.
Neil laid his head back down on Andrew's chest, thoughts flying a mile a minute. "No, I don't want to influence her choice. Let her make it and we'll go from there."
***
The second day of the banquet went by too fast and was uneventful.
There were a few murmurs buzzing around about Kevin, Andrew, and Neil walking in together, but the Foxes didn't bat an eye or say anything about it so Neil didn't care.
Once they were comfortably intermingled with the group, Cat told him about Carlos trying to get information out of her. Jean had not so politely told him that Neil had everything he needed and Carlos could fuck off.
Neil appreciated the sentiment but ultimately didn't care one way or the other. He told Cat as much in case he came after her again.
Neil had to ride back to the airport with his team, so he and Andrew said their goodbyes away from the crowd and their suspicious eyes.
He thought back to what Andrew said the night before, and silently hoped that Tessa kept the baby. He knew it was selfish; he shouldn't want her to keep the baby for the sole reason of her being forced to retire for at least a season, but he came to terms with being selfish a long time ago when he put his entire team - family - at risk just to play exy.
Sometimes good things come from being selfish.
He put his family at risk his freshman year, yes, but everyone he cares about is still alive and he's still playing exy. He selfishly continued to experiment with Andrew, knowing that Andrew hated him and look how that turned out.
If Tessa's starting striker position opens up, then he would be able to play with Andrew again, on the same team.
A small smile made its way across his face and he used his free hand to wipe it away before anyone saw. Getting on the plane back to Portland was hard, but he'd be back in Denver soon enough - hopefully.
***
Three weeks later, the Portland Eagles were set to play the Helena Healers in the first round of the Death Matches, and Neil was jittery with excitement. Playing against Kevin always made him jittery in the way only the Foxes could. They all played more fiercely if they were pitted against each other.
Matt also being on the team this year was exciting. He transferred over to the Healers in Neil's last year at Palmetto. He was excited to see how the pair had grown in the year and no amount of preparation could have him 'ready' for the match.
Cat was an amazing backliner, even Neil would admit, but Matt was better. Cat’s sense of fierceness and determination might help her pull through to keep Kevin out of the goal. Being paired with Scotman for the game would help greatly. Both were powerful backliners and they worked well together.
Neil would be on court for longer this game because of the Foxes. Not only was it a good PR stunt that brought more people in, but Neil knew how Matt played, how he moved, and how he thought. Neil was the best choice of striker against him.
No doubt they'd put Matt as his mark. It would be a good move. Matt was incredibly tall, stronger, and as much as Neil knew Matt, Matt knew him too. Neil just had to be faster.
Neil was always faster.
His phone pinged minutes before the game. He fished it out of his duffle before throwing the bag into his locker. Andrew had posted something on his Twitter account.
Neil clicked on the notification and it pulled up a picture of the schedule for tonight's game with the text above it saying "The Queen will always keep his crown."
Neil retweeted it, only adding the crown emoji as text but hashtagging it with #stolen #British #wigsnatched He wasn't sure where that last one came from but he had a feeling Allison would be proud of him so he hit send anyway.
Almost immediately his phone started buzzing again and Neil ignored it, throwing it into his locker to get his head in the game.
He took his stance next to Cat as Coach went down his checklist for things that need to be in a hype speech. He tried to pay attention, tried to gather any last minute information or advice Coach had to offer, but his mind kept wandering outside the double doors onto the court where Kevin and Matt were warming up.
His body itched to get out there to play on the same court as them again. If it wasn't for Cat standing directly in his way, he would have ignored Coach's speech and just walked out. Would it have been a good idea? No. But would he have thought about it long enough to know it wasn't a good idea? Also no.
Everyone clapped their hands together saying "Eagles!" and Neil's body knew that sound. It was time to get out there. Cat shot him a wicked grin and took off with the team, Neil following closely behind her.
"Josten!" Coach yelled, bringing Neil to a standstill. He looked back at Coach just in time to see him waving a hand over, beckoning him. "You and Alvarez are on press duty after tonight's game. I don't have to tell you to behave, right?"
Neil looked at him in silence. A few moments passed before Coach shook his head, poorly hiding his amusement. "Wymack gave me a heads up about giving you explicit warnings, so I am going to say it, alright. Behave."
He leveled Neil with a look that he was pretty sure was supposed to be intimidating but missed the mark by a mile.
"Get your ass on that court, Josten." He waved him away and Neil took off in a light jog back towards his team.
Carlos Abarca waited for him to catch up before shutting the plexiglass door, regulating the Healers back to their side of the court for warm-ups.
He glanced their way only to see Kevin and Matt already approaching. He wiped his grin from his face with the backside of his glove and met them in the middle.
Neil could see the cameras flashing in his peripheral vision. He and Kevin ignore them. Matt however, glanced their way briefly before also ignoring them.
Matt reached out first, clasping Neil's hand in his and pulling him into a hug. Hugs with Matt were nice. They didn't seem sentimental like they did with Dan, Renee, and Allison. More like a "good to see you" message instead of some kind of underlining meaning.
Neil and Kevin didn't hug. Kevin cupped his hand on Neil's shoulder and started talking. They wished Neil a good game and told him to bring it as best as he could. Neil did the same, also adding an invite to dinner at his place after his press duty interviews.
Matt grinned at the news of Neil being on the after-game interview, but Kevin grimaced.
"Will they ever learn?" He muttered.
Neil wasn't sure if he was muttering to himself or to the group, but he smirked in response and walked backward towards his side of the court, wishing them both a good game.
Neil couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across his face as he ran down the court. He was hidden behind his helmet, so he didn’t try to force it off as he normally would have and instead embraced the joy flowing through him. He missed playing with his friends. He missed the actual work Kevin made him put into it.
The Healers won with a 7-5 point score, and Matt threw his arm around him as they shook hands with the other team. Kevin obviously had some critiques for Neil and he took them in stride, giving promises for the next time they played together.
Matt released him back to his team after securing Neil’s address and promising to pick up sub sandwiches for dinner.
Not for the first time, Neil thought about how he got here in life. How every terrible thing, every choice, every close call led him to right here. Right where he was now and the future he could see on the horizon.
Cat looped her arm through his, pulling him back to the present, as they headed back towards the press, passing their helmets and other gear pieces to teammates to take back to the locker room. She didn’t try to speak to him, seeming to recognize his need to get his mind right again. He probably had Jean to thank for that.
“You ready for this?” She asked him and waved towards the press line. Some seemed to light up at seeing who she was sharing the limelight with, knowing that Neil always stirred up drama when he talked to reporters.
Neil grimaced. “If I could never do press duty, I wouldn’t. It’s not important to the game and they never ask about exy.”
Cat chuckled and elbowed him, muttering a ‘behave’ in a mockery of Coach’s voice.
“Hey! You got us today, that cool?” She gestured to the two of them. “Alright, go!”
Multiple people started asking questions, shouting over the top of each other. Neil could only hear what they were saying if he concentrated on one person long enough.
“One at a time.”
Cat pointed to someone. They stepped up while everyone else quieted down. “You, Kevin Day, and Matthew Boyd seem to still be in good relationships. Do you talk to them outside of games?”
“Yes.” Neil answered. The reporter waited for more information, when none was forthcoming, they nodded and stepped back.
Cat pointed to another one. “This is your first year in the pros, Catalina. How is it fairing to your time with the Trojans?”
“Oh amazing!” She smiled brightly and jumped to answer the question. “The Trojans really helped me learn how to play the game fairly and with good sportsmanship. The Eagles aren’t too far off from that either. There’s a bit more of a chance someone will get a red card here, but I’m loving it.”
She closed her eyes and spun around in a circle randomly pointing at the crowd of reporters again.
“I think you called on me.” The man with the ESPN2 camera said, stepping forward. “Josten, you said you do keep in contact with the foxes and I’ll assume you still foster those relationships. Despite that, is it your goal to overtake Kevin Day’s position of ‘Queen of the Court’ someday?”
Neil stared at them in confusion. “What?”
The reporter pulled up his phone and turned it towards him despite him not being able to see it. “You retweeted Andrew Minyard’s tweet with your own, hashtagging it with ‘stolen’. Are you trying to take the Queen’s crown from him?”
Neil scoffed. “I’m pretty sure I couldn’t pry that title off of him no matter how hard I tried.”
“He is a few years older than you, meaning he could retire before you. Would you try to take the crown then?”
“The Queen of the Court will always be Kevin. No one will ever take it from him. The last person who tried died.” Neil narrowed his eyes. “What is this about?”
“I’m just trying to determine how many times you’re willing to throw your fellow foxes under the bus for your own gain.” The reporter said, a small smile playing on his face.
“Okay! That’s enough.” Cat said, stepping up in between Neil and the reporter.
Neil slightly pushed her out of his line of sight. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Your feud with Andrew Minyard is public knowledge. Even his brother Aaron - who no longer plays exy - has sided with his brother calling you a ‘menace to society’. Allison Reynolds - another former Fox player - has been quoted saying she wouldn’t trust you to make your own choices. I can go on.”
“Listen here, asshole. I’m sorry that your ratings can’t get into the triple digits like every other competent reporter but if you ever try to come for my Foxes again, I’ll make sure–"
“We’re done.” Cat said, turning the full force of her glare on the reporter and physically shoving Neil back towards the locker room until he turned and went back himself.
Neil fumed on his way back to the locker room, hearing only white noise and feeling his blood boil. He needed to get back to the locker room before he split open. In there at least the reporters wouldn’t see.
Alvarez jogged up beside him, vocally fuming about asshole reporters until they were close enough to the locker room she could step in front of him. “Coach’s office. Now. There no–”
Neil tried to slip past her, but she stepped back into his way. “No, I need-”
“I’ll grab it.” She interrupted him. “We need to talk right now, because I’m sure you have no idea what you just did.” She scanned the room, making sure there were no people around.
“I didn’t get to do anything. I was going to tell off that reporter but you interrupted me.”
Cat threw her hands in the air. “You threatened his life.”
Neil scoffed. “No I didn’t. I didn’t get that far.”
“Coach’s office.” She pointed. “They can’t hear us in there.”
“Josten!” Coach yelled from the hallway as if on cue. “My office. Now!”
“Shit.” Cat muttered. “Just go. I’ll grab your phone.”
Neil took a deep breath and headed towards the office where he would take his lashing and proceed to not listen to it.
He didn’t regret it, whatever the reporter took from what little Neil said wasn't enough. How dare he say that Neil was trying to take Kevin’s title? That the foxes didn’t like him in general. What was he trying to accomplish by saying that to Neil?
He stepped into the room and Coach sent him a pointed glare and nodded to the chair. Neil moved towards it but he didn’t sit. He didn’t plan on staying long.
Coach scoffed and went to close the door, but Cat’s hand stopped him and she slipped in with a sweet smile.
“Pretty sure I didn’t invite you.”
“Nah, but I can’t leave Neil high and dry, can I?”
“Get out.”
“Sorry Coach, but unless Neil wants me to go, I’m staying.”
Coach turned towards Neil expectantly, but all he did was hold out his hand. Cat stepped completely around Coach taking the spot in the chair and handed Neil the phone.
Neil quickly checked it. Already he had messages from Kevin and Allison. Even Aaron had sent him something. But he had nothing from who he was really searching for.
Neil sighed and slipped his phone in his pocket before turning his attention to Coach.
He was glaring at him. “I told you to behave.”
“I did.”
“You call that behaving?”
“Cat interrupted me.”
“And thank god she did. Who knows what you would have said if she didn’t.”
Neil was lost. What was he getting in trouble for?
“I can’t believe I have to say this. Do not threaten reporters live on national television.” Neil opened his mouth to respond but Coach interrupted him, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Just say ‘yes Coach’.”
“Yes, Coach.”
“Get the hell out of here. The both of you.”
Cat and Neil left the office. For a blissful moment Neil thought he was finally going to get to go home and eat dinner with Kevin and Matt, but Cat pulled him into the gear closet.
He shrugged out of her grip. “What, Catalina? What?”
“It seems to me you’re more confused than anything else.” She started. “Do you not realize you threatened that reporter’s life?”
He threw his hands up in frustration. “No I didn’t. You didn't let me get that far.”
“You said the last person to try and take Kevin’s title died–”
“Yeah, Riko couldn’t–” Neil interrupted, but Cat carried on as if she didn’t hear him. Didn’t care was more likely.
“–and then proceeded to try and say ‘if you threaten the foxes then you’ll kill him’. For fuck’s sake Neil, someone with your background should recognize a threat. Especially when you’re the one making it.”
He waited for her to calm down slightly before speaking again. Making sure she was done talking first. “Okay, first: I didn’t threaten his life. I was pointing out facts.” He pointed at her to keep her quiet. “Second: If you didn’t interrupt me back there, I would have said that if he tried to come for my foxes again, I would make sure that he never saw the anchorman's desk. Not a threat to his life. By interrupting me, that makes it look like a threat.”
She ran her fingers through her hair anxiously. “Just stay off of social media for a while, won’t you?’
“If I had any say in it, I wouldn’t be on social media at all.” Neil said, pushing out of the closet. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have dinner plans.”
“Yeah, after this interview I’m withdrawing my self-invitation. Tell the boys I said hey.”
He waved her off and shot a text to Matt, making sure they had picked up food.
***
Neil was banned from doing press coverage for the rest of the season, and he was fine with that. He still had to complete his social media quotas so he could ‘interact with his fans’ but most of the time he would just post some of his sponsor stuff and it would be fine.
That didn't last very long.
Andrew tagged Neil in a 'Best Goals made in Exy History' video with the caption. ‘See how you're not on this.’
Neil watched the video through. He was surprised to see Kevin's precision strikes only made it on the videos twice while Jeremy's impossible shots made it four times. The others were fancy tricks that made it to the goal.
Neil smirked, and tagged Andrew back with ‘And yet, there are three at your goal. What does that say about you?’
He hit send and pulled up Andrew's contact to call him.
He answered on the third ring. "You're not cute, Josten."
Neil laughed at the greeting. "I have it under good authority that I am actually very attractive."
"Who's authority?"
"Allison’s."
Andrew scoffed. "Allison doesn't know what she's talking about."
"She owns her own fashion line, I'm pretty sure if anyone knows what is and is not attractive, it's her." At this point, he was just arguing for the sake of argument. Rising to the bait was half the fun. The other half was trying to win an argument that had no winner.
"Whatever."
With that, Neil had won. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, both of them letting the noises of daily tasks filter through the phone. It was almost like they were together, sharing the same space.
Almost.
"I'm coming to Portland in a week." Andrew’s voice cut through the silence.
"Really?” Neil asked. “Why?"
"Why?" Andrew echoed.
He rolled his eyes, knowing that Andrew couldn’t see him. "Not that I don't want you here, but there's no logical reason for you to come. It pulls you out of practice."
Andrew thought in silence for a moment, figuring out the best way to phrase the answer. "Coach thought it best if I came."
Neil hummed. "I'm torn between wanting to know and trying to figure it out myself.”
"Figure it out for yourself."
"Okay."
They talked for the rest of the night about nothing and everything. Most of it was filled with silence, just the knowledge the other person was there - even if they weren't physically there - was enough to settle them.
Neil filled Andrew in on the drama happening around his social media profile and how he is now banned from press coverage for the season. He even mentioned how Cat knew that he needed this phone with him that day.
He’d never mentioned it and Neil was objectively adverse to his phone most other times. How she knew what he needed at that time was strange to him, but he didn’t feel the need to look further into it.
Andrew filled him in on Tessa and her boyfriend’s engagement. They specifically said their engagement wasn’t because she was pregnant - according to Andrew, he hadn’t heard one way or the other if they were keeping it - but it was because they loved each other and wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.
Tessa had also asked Andrew for wedding advice since he was the only one she knew that was married. Neil laughed at that when Andrew told him. They had just gone to the courthouse with Kevin and Aaron as their witnesses, signed some papers, and honeymooned at Liquid Gold Ice Cream Shoppe. Apparently Tessa was more appalled by their lack of actual honeymoon than the lack of a wedding itself.
To be fair, if it wasn’t for Agent Browning, Neil was pretty sure their marriage wouldn’t have been legalized in South Carolina anyway, but no small town judge wants to tell a Federal FBI Agent ‘no’ so they were married legally in 2010.
Despite the fact that they made due with phone calls and frequent visits, Neil struggled with being alone. There was a time when he wanted nothing more than to be alone, to be unnoticed, but a lot had changed over the years. He got a taste of what being known, and knowing others was like and he wouldn’t trade it for the world.
He longed to be with Andrew again. To live in the same state, same house. To sleep in the same bed, and have these conversations in person. He knew he’d get there again one day, but the inbetween was a warzone of loneliness and stolen time.
***
Neil could feel eyes on him as he ran the ball to the goal. These weren't the familiar eyes of the coaches or teammates watching him practice. These were heavy, practically leaving claw marks on the back of his neck.
He kept running, knowing that a sudden stop would warn who it was that he knew they were watching. Firing at the goal - and making the score - brought practice to a crawl as groups went over plays and constructive criticism.
He felt the eyes slide away from him and Neil took his chance to look around.
There, behind Cat, stood Andrew, who was, probably, listening to her talk. Neil caught his eyes again and immediately started over to him.
Cameron blocked his path, and Neil sent him a death glare. "He’s not here to pick fights. Alvarez can hold her own."
Neil stepped neatly past him, just for Cameron to block his way again. "He's here to talk to coach, not you."
The words barely registered past his annoyance at Cameron, but once they did, all the pieces started clicking into place.
Andrew was here to talk to the Eagles head coach. It was too late in the season for transfers. But not new contracts. And he already had insider information telling him that a striker position opened up on the Falcons’s team.
He flicked his gaze back to Andrew in silent question. Andrew nodded almost imperceptibly. Neil couldn't stop the smile from forming on his face.
"God, what happened between you two?" Cameron asked, reminding Neil that he was still there. "That smile looks like you want to kill him."
"The opposite actually." Neil muttered as he pushed past Cameron and jogged towards Cat and Andrew.
Andrew turned towards him fully as he approached. "Reed's made her decision."
"That's why you're here?"
"Why else?"
Cat looked between the two of them. She was missing a key fact to understand their conversation, but neither of them filled her in.
"I'm going to go stop Cameron from making more of an ass of himself."
Neil glanced over to where he left his captain, seeing Cameron now talking to Coach. He was talking animatedly, arms gesturing at nothing in particular. Coach looked like he was done with the conversation and wasn't even listening anymore.
He caught Neil's eye and nodded his acknowledgement. His gaze slid to Andrew and widened for a fraction of a second before smiling.
"Josten, Minyard. My office." He called, effectively ending his conversation with Cameron.
Anyone who hadn't noticed the pair yet, looked around, eyes settling on them in suspension, annoyance, and curiosity.
They ignored the stares and followed Coach over to his office.
Andrew sat at the chair while Neil stood behind him. Coach shut the door and gave a very tired sigh.
"I should have expected this as soon as I heard Reed was retiring." He said, plopping down into his seat.
It was moments like these that Coach reminded Neil of Wymack. An unspoken level of knowing met with raw honesty. He wondered if he was like this around all of his players or just Neil specifically.
Andrew pulled out an envelope from his jacket pocket. "We're signing Neil."
"Any way I can talk you out of it?" He asked, taking the envelope, not even looking at it.
"This isn't a trade deal, or anything that would legally require us to tell you we're signing Neil. His provisional contract is up. This is his decision."
Neil went to grab the envelope but Andrew stopped him. "That one is for your coach, not you."
Curious, but obliging, Neil took his hand back. "Thought this wasn't a trade deal."
"It isn't." Andrew confirmed.
Neil hummed but said nothing on the matter.
Coach, still ignoring the envelope, addressed Neil. "Is there any way I can keep you here?"
"Not unless you have a goalie position opening. But I'm pretty sure Danny's here to stay."
Coach chuckled. "Not unless Andrew's okay with taking a sub position."
Neil scoffed at the outlandish statement.
Andrew responded with nonchalance. "The Queen would have my head if I took a sub spot."
Neil agreed and Coach looked between the two of them but said nothing.
Andrew stood, sending a pointed glance to the envelope. "You have until Thursday to decide."
The two of them didn't bother going back to the court. Practice was almost over and Neil wanted to spend as much time with Andrew as he could while he was here.
Soon, he wouldn't have to leave for months on end, or sneak around his own locker room. Soon they would be together, on the same team, in the same state, in the same house, on the same bed.
He shot Cat a text saying he was leaving early so she didn't wait for him.
***
Andrew had driven to Portland instead of flying and then immediately came over to the court to talk to Coach. He was running on five hours of restless sleep and multiple energy drinks. He was tired, and Neil could tell. He’d made the drive a few times before and the eighteen hours was never kind.
Neil’s silence only lasted until they had gotten back to his apartment. “How long will you be here?” He asked, toeing his shoes off.
Andrew put his keys in the bowl by the door, yawning into his hand. “I’ll leave Thursday morning.”
Neil nodded. That only gave them four days together, but it’ll be better soon. Only a few more weeks and he’ll be in Denver.
Andrew sat on the couch, bringing the throw blanket Renee crocheted for Christmas a few years ago up over his shoulders, and leaned his head back on the couch.
“Do you want anything before you go to sleep?”
“Some peace and quiet.”
Neil rolled his eyes, but smiled softly, letting it form on his face for Andrew to see. He sat next to him and brought up his laptop to review the Falcons's games. Might as well get a jumpstart on the team's plays.
The next time he looked over, Andrew was asleep.
Only a few hours had passed but the time Andrew woke again. He startled at first to the unfamiliar position, but recognition came fast and he stretched out on the couch, still not fully awake yet.
Neil got up to make dinner. While he was in the kitchen, Andrew had gotten up to take a shower and settled back onto the couch as Neil was finishing up.
He brought two plates of pork chops and mashed potatoes into the living room.
“Where is the contract?” Neil asked. “Might as well sign it now.”
Andrew gestured to his jacket hanging up by the door, and Neil went to it. An envelope in the inside pocket.
His contract was folded into thirds, pushing at the envelope's edges making it bulge.
“Anything I need to know?” He asked, unfolding it and laying it flat on the counter.
“We’ll share a Personal Relations manager and we’ve got to tell the team we don’t have a rivalry. Don’t have to confirm or deny anything else, just that.” He replied, cutting up his pork chops.
Neiled hummed and signed the paper, putting it back into the envelope and in Andrew’s jacket before coming back to the couch.
“What was in the envelope you left for Coach?” He asked.
“Trade deal for Alvarez."
Neil choked on his food. “What?”
“Breckett wants her for defence. Thinks we’ll have an easier time getting her if we sign you and offer a deal to the Eagles.”
“She won’t go for it.” Neil said. “She wants to stay with Leila, going to Denver would take her too far.”
Andrew hummed in acknowledgement and they let the topic drop in favor of The Price is Right reruns., falling into a domestic silence.
***
An annoying ring tone pulled Neil out of his sleep. He rose slightly and glared at the offending object, noticing Andrew had woken as well, and wondered why it was making that noise.
Belatedly, he realized it was his cell phone's default tone. Rarely ever did someone call him, and even more rare someone unknown calling him.
The red lights on his alarm clock said it was 3:37am. Who the fuck was calling him at 3:37am?
"Answer it or turn it off." Andrew said, voice rough from sleep.
Neil huffed, reaching out a hand to open and close the phone, denying the call without looking to see who it was. He didn't care. It was too early in the morning and anyone important would have their own ring tone.
He settled back down onto the bed, eyes falling shut on a sleepy Andrew.
Almost immediately, a buzzing started on the other side of the bed. Three seconds of the incessant buzzing, made both Andrew and Neil coil with anger.
Neil wondered who was calling. It had to have been the same person who just called him, it was too close in timing for it to be anything else. But anyone who would know Andrew and Neil were together right now, would also have to know that they were together and that list was very limited.
A limited list that only got shorter when you add in the fact that they have to have both of their numbers and not be assigned a ringtone for Neil's phone.
Andrew slammed his hands down onto the bed before grabbing his phone. "You have 2 seconds." He growled, voice heavy with sleep and anger.
Neil flicked on the light, knowing this couldn't be anything good. Andrew had his eyes closed as he adjusted to the new light and listened to whoever was on the phone.
His eyes cut to him sharply. "We'll call you back." He said, hanging up the phone and tossing back onto the table.
"What's going on?" Neil asked.
"Jackie."
"Jackie?" He racked his brain for whoever the hell Jackie was, his mind only coming up with one answer. "Your PR agent?"
Andrew nodded, throwing the blankets off and getting out of bed. Neil watched as he grabbed his pack of cigarettes and went to the balcony before hesitating.
Deciding against sitting on the balcony, Andrew opened the doors but sat on the floor, view of the ground obscured.
"Jackie doesn't have my number." Neil said, joining him hesitantly. This wasn't making any sense.
"No, but Colin does and they both know we're together right now."
"Oh." Neil said. Colin was his PR agent, and Jackie was Andrew's. It made sense they had some overlap considering their clients were married.
He could feel the clues sliding into place in his head but they weren't clicking together. He blamed the early morning and asked for clarification.
Andrew pulled a stick out of the cigarette pack, and flipped it between his fingers. "Colin tried to call you, failed, so he texted Jackie, who called me and succeeded."
That cleared absolutely nothing up, but Neil refrained from rolling his eyes and pushed further. "Okay. But why?"
Andrew stopped fidgeting and met his eyes. "Because we've been outted."
"What?" That had Neil awake. His mind running over where, when, how. Andrew continued on, pulling Neil out of his slight panic.
"More specifically. You've been outted, I'm a nondescript man also in the picture."
He waited for more information, but Andrew wasn't forthcoming. "How? When?"
"Few days ago, walking by the lake." Andrew continued to play with his cigarette.
Neil remembered the lake. It had started warming up in Portland about a month ago. The weather could be a little finicky in the springtime, so Neil liked to take advantage of the warm days. He'd asked Andrew to walk with him, see the geese that seemed to live there perpetually despite them supposedly heading south for the winter. Andrew agreed and Neil spent the entire time comparing him to the Canadian geese.
He wasn't sure what part of it the picture caught, but it had to have been damning for this to be a 3 in the morning call.
His chest tightened when he looked at Andrew. He wasn't sure why, but he still asked, "Do you want to come out?"
"Do you?"
Neil thought on that for a minute before dismissing it altogether. "I kinda have to if the picture is enough for both of our public relations agents to call us."
"Is that something you want?" Andrew persisted.
Neil smiled a lopsided sleepy smile. "I've never minded being seen with you. People will always think what they want. Why do I care?"
"They might think you're coming to the Eagles because of me instead of your own talent."
Neil would not have thought Andrew would use exy logic on him. He hummed, trying to come up with some kind of plan. "You said you were nondescript. What if I come out, but you don't. At least not until I get my spot on the Eagles finalized."
Andrew's eyes flickered back to the balcony, clearly letting the idea stew in his mind before deciding. Neil waited patiently, yawning into his hand and leaning his head against the door frame.
"Yes or no?" Andrew asked, but Neil heard the are you sure? that was hidden behind it.
"Yes." He said. "I'm sure."
Andrew nodded and told Neil to go back to bed, he'd let Jackie and Colin know.
Neil almost protested, but he knew Andrew needed the time alone to think and the bed was calling his name. If he was five years younger, he'd probably decide a run was better suited for his inner thoughts right now, but he was tired, and the bed looked so comfy.
***
Neil woke again to the smell of French toast. He peaked his eyes open, squinting in the morning sun, and checked the time. It was a little after 7 and he didn't really want to be awake yet, but he also really wanted the French toast.
He slid out of bed, taking a blanket with him wrapped around his shoulders.
Andrew was almost done with breakfast. He was just putting the fruit onto Neil's toast.
"You've been awake this whole time?" Neil yawned around his words.
"I've been talking to Jackie."
That wiped the sleep right out of Neil. He stood straighter, watching and waiting for Andrew to continue. When he didn't Neil probed further. "And?"
Andrew brought his plate to the table and they both sat down across from each other. The smell of the toast wasn't as appetizing as it had been five minutes ago.
"We both agree that it's your decision." Andrew took a bite of his own toast, covered in powdered sugar and drowned in syrup. "Ultimately, you were the one who was outted."
Neil furrowed his eyebrows. "You were also there. It is also your decision."
"I'm covered in the shadows. You can reasonably say it was anyone else and get away with it." Andrew shrugged casually, but Neil could see the tense set in his shoulders and hear the clipped way he spoke.
"Do you want me to say it was someone else?"
"No." He said fiercely.
"Okay." Neil took a bite of his toast, thinking it over, what their best option was. "Do you want to come out?"
Andrew thought about it for a minute. "No."
"Okay." Neil deflated.
He knew if it came down to it, he wouldn't deny Andrew, but Andrew didn't want to be known as Neil's husband out in the public. It hurt a bit, but it was his decision as much as it was Neil's, so he would respect it.
"I'll talk to Colin and set something up." Neil said, pushing his half eaten French toast away.
He got up and started back to the bedroom to grab his phone.
"Neil. Wait." He stopped but didn't turn around. "I- I don't-"
"You don't need to explain yourself to me." Neil said emotionlessly. He didn't want to guilt Andrew into coming out, but he wasn't sure he'd be able to fake it. "I get it."
Andrew didn't try to stop him again.
Neil grabbed his phone and immediately dialed out to Colin. He answered on the third ring. His voice was low and groggy due to sleep. "'Lo?"
"Colin."
"Ah shit. Yeah. Hold on." There were some rustling sounds and a woman's voice on the other side of the phone.
He cleared his throat and came back onto the phone. "Hello this is Colin James. May I ask who's speaking?"
Neil sighed. "We gotta talk about my coming out plan."
"Ah Mr. Josten. To what do I owe this pleasure." He shushed someone on the other end. "I see. You're returning my call from last night. That is very kind of you."
"Colin, I swear to God if you don't cut the fake crap."
"Alright. Alright. I understand this is a very important matter to you." He said, all professionalism in his voice.
Neil's temper was running thin, and he vividly remembered why he muted this guy's contact unless it was labeled urgent.
"If you don't start talking about plans, I'm going to take it upon myself and that would be a thousand times worse for you." Neil gritted through his teeth.
Colin cleared his throat. "Have you talked over your decision with Mr. Minyard? I understand he says that this is your decision to make."
"Right. Well I'm not exactly sure what to do. So?"
"I have a made a few plans that we- I could run by you. Feel free to choose whichever one you're most comfortable with and if none of them hit the mark, we can brainstorm some more together."
"I'm coming out alone." Neil said abruptly.
"Andrew doesn't want to?" Colin asked, breaking his professional character momentarily before catching it and stepping back into the role. "I mean. That makes sense. He probably doesn't want the media to think your transfer to the Eagles has more to do with him than your talent."
Neil's attention caught on his theory. Now that he thought about it, he was probably right, but how did Colin know he was transferring? It hadn't been made official yet. Actually, how did Colin know anything yet? Had he already been conversing with Andrew’s agent?
"How do you know?" He questioned.
"It's not like it's hard take a guess."
Neil cut him off. "No. How did you know I was transfering?"
"Oh, uh." He stuttered around a few syllables before deciding on a very obvious lie that sounded like the truth. "I have connections."
"Whatever." Neil sighed. He heard the clanging of dishes in the sink and walked back towards the bedroom door.
Andrew was doing the dishes. Guilt settled into his stomach. "Email me your plans. I'll read them." Neil said then hung up.
Was it as simple as not tarnishing Neil's reputation as a player? Why didn't Andrew just say that?
Suddenly, he remembered that he did. They had talked about exactly that last night when they were discussing coming out or not.
Neil berated himself for forgetting something crucial like that just because he was tired. He owed Andrew an apology.
***
He opted not to do any official statement and picked Colin's second plan of a social media post explaining that he was married, but it was his private life.
Neil chose a silhouette photo that Dan had taken of him and Andrew during her senior year. They were both sitting atop Fox Tower and she had captured them completely shadowed in black with a big orange sunset behind them.
It was one of Neil's favorite photos. And Dan had captured it on an actual camera instead of her phone so the image quality was good as well.
He ran it by Andrew, making sure he was okay with Neil posting it before drafting out a caption.
He'd finalized his caption when Andrew sent a thumbs up as his consent.
Neil sent the post to all of his social media accounts with the brief caption: A little over 2 years ago, I got married to the most amazing man I know. No, I'm not going to tell you about him, and no I'm not going to tell you his name until WE decide WE are ready. My private life is just that, private.
He hashtagged it with Demisexual, LQBTQ rights, and married life and sent it out onto the internet.
***
Neil's transfer to the Denver Falcons was announced by Tessa Reed on the same day she announced her retirement from exy.
He'd moved to Denver a few days ago, so Tessa pulled him into doing the press conference with her.
"Neil has my full confidence." She said putting an arm around his shoulders. "I know the Falcons will be good for him as well as his career."
Neil softened at her words. On a lot of levels she reminded him of Dan and he knew she was going to be a good mother.
She answered a couple of questions, and they were all about her. Not a single one that had to do with Neil was anything other than exy. He'd have to ask her how she managed that, but he was grateful all the same. He didn't want to take her limelight away from her.
Those good faith questions only lasted for the press conference it seemed. By the time Neil made it home, he had multiple notifications from the internet that he didn't care to check.
Andrew was watching some documentary when Neil walked through the door. He dropped his keys into the bowl by the door and toed his shoes off before continuing into the bedroom to change into sweatpants. He was too tired to go anywhere else.
Once he changed, Neil made it back into the living room and curled up on the couch next to Andrew. The documentary would put him to sleep if he let it.
"Did you watch the press release?" He asked.
"Yes."
"Have you been online?"
"Yes."
"Anything I need to worry about?"
"Apperently I've been deemed homophobic now."
Neil lifted his head to properly look at him. "You've what?"
"Someone asked what I thought about you joining the team. I said I didn't care so long as you didn't do anything stupid. Apparently that's homophobic."
Neil let out a chuckle. "Everyone's going to be so freaked when they find out what's actually going on."
"Breckett said we have to tell the team before your first practice."
Neil knew he meant about the rivalry, not about them, but the thought still crossed his mind. Would it be so bad? Who would even say anything?
Between the two of them, their reputations and criminal records speak for themselves and undoubtedly provide them both with a cover that no one really wants to look over.
Neil hummed in acknowledgement. When Andrew didn't voice anything else, he let the narrator's smooth voice from the documentary lull him into a sleep.
They'd take care of it later. He had no doubt that Jackie would have some kind of plan ready for anything ‘just in case’. She was actually worth her job and he wasn’t obnoxious like some other PR agents he knew.
He made a mental note to ask if she wanted another client now that he had moved to Colorado and away from Colin.
***
His first practice was only a week and a half later. Just enough time for him to get settled in and start to get antsy about getting back on the court.
They walked into the stadium together. Neil hadn't gotten the gate codes yet, but Andrew was with him so he wasn't worried about it.
The Falcons colors weren't so different from the rest of Denver's sports teams. They used shades of blues and reds mostly, and white/grey took up the remaining space.
The stadium was a closed dome, bleachers lining the walls. Neil could easily picture it being full to the brim with people cheering. He closed his eyes, imagining the first time he walked on a real exy court as Neil Josten. He could still hear Kevin’s voice in his head. Give them something to believe in.
Andrew waited for him to return from the open stadium. "Junkie." He muttered.
Neil didn't respond to the comment, but it warmed something in his chest.
Some things never changed.
Half of the team was already there when they walked into the locker room, leisurely changing out and talking to each other.
The conversation came to almost a standstill when they entered. Andrew ignored it and continued walking towards his locker. Neil assessed.
Some people looked surprised, some looked in disdain, but most just glanced up seeing who was walking in.
"Neil!" Someone yelled from across the locker room. He quickly found the owner to be Marcus - the Falcons’s captain.
Neil nodded in his direction, but Marcus was already on his way over, arms wide open.
"Can I hug you?" He asked as he got closer.
Neil instinctively took a step back. "No."
He saw Andrew pause in his corner of his eye, but Marcus gave a casual shrug and lifted his fist towards Neil. "Fist bump then?" He asked.
Neil glanced down at his raised fist and popped his own fist against it.
Marcus 'blew it up' and swung around to address the team. "Alright guys, listen up. It's Neil's first day, so go as hard as you can. We don't want him thinking we're wimps, right?" He glanced back at Neil and winked at him. "Be out on my court in 5 or you're running suicides."
The locker room moved much faster. Neil felt energy buzzing just beneath his skin.
Marcus set everyone up on drills for the first half. The second half was reserved for scrimmages.
Everything felt elevated as realization dawned on him again. He was playing on the same team as Andrew. This was their life now. Now that they had found each other again, they could finally start building up.
Most of practice went fine until Neil noticed a certain immovable object in the goal. He hadn't realized before because he was too busy scrimmaging with his own team on the other side of the court, but now Marcus had switched up the teams and Neil's was facing off against Andrew's.
"Hey Marcus." Neil called to his backliner mark. "Does half your team slack off during practice?"
"Our team." Marcus corrected gently and looked around to see who Neil was talking about.
Neil nodded in the direction of the goal.
"Minyard?" Marcus confirmed. "Technically he's not supposed to be here today, so even the fact that he's dressed out surprises me."
Neil's brows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean he's not supposed to be here?"
"We separate our practices with half our offense and half our defense. Andrew has the day off today." Marcus said. "How'd they do it in Oregon?"
"We had multiple buildings to practice in." He replied, distracted. "If he's here. He should be practicing."
"I'm pretty sure he's only here because you're here."
"I don't need a babysitter." Neil said, making his way towards the goal. Marcus tried to say something but Neil was already jogging away.
Andrew didn't move from his position of leaning against his racket, but he took his helmet off to hear better.
"Marcus says you don't need to be here." Neil said, copying the action.
"I'm right where I need to be."
Neil rolled his eyes. "I don't need a babysitter."
"What was I supposed to do, sit at home while you were here having so much fun." Andrew scoffed at the statement.
"You're not even playing right." He retorted.
"The ball gets hit by the racket, yes?"
Neil sighed exasperatedly. "If you're here might as well practice correctly."
He clicked his tongue, pretending to think about it. "I could, couldn't I?"
"You're starting to sound like you did when you were high." He knew the jab was unfair, but it did what it was supposed to. He saw Andrew's shoulders tense in anger. Maybe now he'd use that anger with something more productive that just standing around in a goal.
"And you're starting to sound like the Queen himself." Andrew clapped back. "Maybe that reporter was right. Maybe you are coming for his crown."
Neil shoved him. "Fuck you."
The backliners on Andrew's team took a step forward in his defense. They were ready to jump in if this turned into a brawl.
Neil let the accusing action roll off his shoulders. They didn't know any better yet.
Marcus ended up off to the side in between the two. "Everything good."
Neil pointed his racket at Andrew. "Get your fucking head in the game."
"Get your racket out of my face, Effron, before I break it."
The backliners finally made their appearance on the other side of Marcus.
"I thought y'all said this ain't no feud." Johnny McEntire, number 11, first string backliner sub.
"It isn't." Marcus responded.
Johnny gestured to them as if that proved his point.
Neil took a step back and switched to Russian. "Practice with me."
Andrew cocked his head.
"Just me today, if no one else."
Andrew waved him off in a noncommittal gesture. Neil hoped it meant he would, but he'd find out soon enough one way or another.
***
The first game of the season and Coach Breckett was making both Andrew and Neil do the after-game interview. He claimed that it was best to get their prying questions out of the way and he didn’t care what they said so long as it was truthful the Falcons would have their back.
He made it specifically clear that he was not going to make them come out under any circumstances, but with the way the media thought of them both already, coupled with the fact that they were on the same team now, meant people were going to have questions. Andrew and Neil were going to be there to answer them.
Neither of them argued, knowing Coach was right, and Allison’s advice stuck with him all these years. It’s better to just give them what they want. So after winning their game they handed their bulky gear to some teammates and made their way to the interview tables.
Neil took the left side as Andrew took the right. It was clear to anyone who was watching that they would rather be anywhere else.
It was the first interview of the both of them together since last year's disaster that started this stupid rivalry, and he knew that the reporters wouldn't be talking about exy even though that was their entire job.
As soon as they resigned themselves to their fates, hands started flying in the air, questions being shouted out with no regard for anyone else.
Neil would give credit where credit was due, he heard a few reporters ask exy questions. Though he was certain that it was just to get one of them talking.
Coach Breckett broke the chaos with a sharp whistle. "One at a time. At least pretend to be professional."
Neil huffed in amusement. "I think I heard an exy question in there." He said clearly into the microphone. Might as well get this over with.
Hands raised once again, but this time they had the decency not to shout over each other. Neil took a page from Alavez’s book and pointed to a reporter at random.
The man stepped forward slightly to distinguish himself from everyone else. "You've been with the Eagles for summer training, some pre-season scrimmages, and now the first game of the season. How did you fare with the altitude switch?"
Distantly, Neil recognized that this was exactly the question Kevin asked. He gave the same answer to this man. "I spent a lot of time moving around in my life. I've been places below sea level and I've been higher than we are right now. Altitude sickness doesn't really bother me. Besides, I used to come to Colorado during the off season and train in Colorado Springs."
"Why?"
"Because it's higher in elevation than Denver is? And it's closer than Breckenridge?" Neil said slowly not understanding what was confusing about it.
The man pulled back and explained a bit further. "No. No. I mean, why did you come to Colorado to train?"
"Because of the elevation difference." He glanced at Andrew. "I just said that, didn't I?"
Andrew stopped fidgeting with his pen long enough to answer Neil back, not bothering to lower his voice. "Yes, but as always, you missed the subtext there."
"There was no subtext. He asked a straight-forward question. I answered."
Andrew gave a noncommittal gesture.
"Fine. Who's next?" Neil asked the crowd.
Again hands raised and Neil chose someone at random.
She stepped forward and turned her attention to the goalkeeper instead. "Hello, my name is Maria and I'm with Exy Independent. My question is actually for Andrew."
She waited until Andrew raised his head in acknowledgement before asking her question. "This is your third year with the Denver Eagles, and you were friends with Tessa Reed before her retirement where she paved the way for your rival to join the team. Do you consider that a betrayal? How is the team adjusting around your rivalry?"
Andrew stared at her for a beat longer than acceptable. The crowd murmured in hush tones, eager to hear what he was going to say.
"Reed knows how I feel about her support for Josten joining the team. As for your second question: I don't care. If they have problems with Neil they can take it up with him. Choosing sides is useless in this case."
She nodded and Neil pointed to a new reporter who looked vaguely familiar. She went straight for the throat. "Choosing sides is useless in this case." She said quoting Andrew, a wicked smile on her face. "The entire exy community has chosen sides, save Kevin Day as he's both of your friends. Why would you consider it useless?"
Andrew's jaw tensed for a second before Neil answered anyway, his patience running thin. "We're on the same team now. Either way, they'd be choosing the side of the Denver Eagles."
"How does your husband feel about you being on the same team as Minyard?!" Someone in the back shouted.
Part of Neil wanted to ignore him, but he remembered his and Andrew's conversation from a few nights before. All they had to do was say they were together on live television and the internet would do the rest. Might as well be done with the interview now.
"I don't know.” Neil shrugged and glanced back at Andrew. “Andrew, how do you feel about me being on the team?"
Andrew met his gaze. "You're right where you belong."
Neil tilted his head slightly, and he felt a genuine smile forming on his face. He turned back to Coach, who was pinching the bridge of his nose, acting annoyed by the whole thing. Neil could see the amused smile behind his hand from the angle he was sitting at.
"Can we go now?" Neil asked him over the crowd yelling out follow-up questions.
Coach nodded and sighed briefly, resigning himself to cleaning up the mess. Neil and Andrew rose at the same time, steadfastly ignoring everyone around them.
Andrew took a moment, watching Neil, a silent question in his eyes as they stood behind the interview table.
At Neil's slight nod, Andrew raised his hand and tugged on the chain wrapped about Neil's neck until the golden ring fell out from under his shirt. Andrew removed the chain from around Neil's neck and took the ring off just to put it onto his finger.
There was flashing in Neil's periphery but he ignored it. He only had eyes for Andrew.
They walked away from the table together, a comfortable space between them and went back to their teams locker room to wait on Coach.
Neil had the forethought to text Jackie, a slight heads-up so she wouldn't be caught so off guard when things inevitably blew up.